Been a while...

Well, after not posting on here for 2 months, I'm back again. Been quite busy with the job hunt and various other things. I've been working for Natwest for the past 3 weeks on a temporary role, helping international students open bank accounts etc at Lancaster University. It's been great, the people who work there are brill and have created a lovely atmosphere there, so there's not been a day when I dreaded going in to work. To me, the most important thing about a job is it being a good environment to work in with people who aren't robots. Anywho, they are helping me find a permanent role within their company at a different branch so fingers crossed something happens there. For now, the search continues....

Beijing Olympics 2008

From the opening ceremony I have been hooked and it's only been three days! Team GB have already got a total of 3 medals (2 gold and one bronze) which is really cool. The opening ceremony was amazing, goodness knows how London is going to top that in 2012. I didn't recognise many athletes names to begin with, but because I am now officially addicted to the event, I am recognising names, especially Michael Phelps. That man is a swimming machine! He's already broken his own record. I think there are many late nights to come over the next fortnight for me!


BBC monkey movie



Amazing 2008 drummers

Toodle Pip!

I've heard about this for a while now, but while browsing forums, it reminded to me to do it. Vote for a Revel eviction! The ones that are quite frankly, disgusting for me are the coffee and orange ones. Coffee shouldn't be a flavour in chocolate to begin with and no one else can pull of orange chocolate quite like Terry's. I think the idea of the eviction is great because I doubt revels come to the front of people's minds when wanting chocolate, especially as there is usually one or two or maybe even three that people do not like. Go on, cast your vote and help make the revels pack to your liking. Just click the title.

It's a mad world after all

I have always thought most car ads are quite boring: Flashy, arty camera shots of the angles of a car to make it look sexy and appealing for those young, hip things. the ones that are set in locations people can only dream of getting to for a drive that are quite Top Gear-esque.

Every once in a while one comes along that makes people sit up and think 'Wow' like the dancing Citroen. I think the new Seat Ibiza ad is fab. A different take on the whole 'look at this car, isn't it great, you know you want it kind of ad'. I love the quirkiness of it and the way it grabs your attention. After all you need a bit of madness in you to create something amazing. Van Gogh was very talented and he cut off his ear after all!

It is officially over

Well, I have done it. It's the end of an era...but finally, I have graduated and am a proud owner of a BA (Hons) in Advertising. Was a brilliant day, albeit a bit long-winded at times. After the speeches and marching up to the stage to collect the rolled up paper with a red ribbon round it, we had a guest speaker who was none other than Maureen Lipman! Who? I hear you ask. Well, she's an actress who has starred in many TV programmes and the odd film, so it quite exciting. She gave a very inspirational speech and now I have a fresh outlook on the career front and am ready to rock and roll!

Here's a pic from the day

South Park meets Harry Potter

This is quite daft, but I like Harry Potter and South Park, so thought I would share...

Made me laugh anyway

The Search Goes On

Well I didn't get the Accounts Executive job at Cactus Creative, but you know what, I had expected that, though am pleased with the progress I made. I got an interview, the only one out of quite a lot of applications I have made and Niki said I had an impressive CV with good work experience and she quite liked my work :-) Anyway, they have taken on someone more experienced, which is the obvious sensible choice.

So the search is still going on. Wish me luck!

Junkie

I have finally started sorting through my things from my life at university and through this, my old room at home has needed a sort-out too. It's crazy how much stuff you can accumulate..from GCSE and A-level schoolwork to old magazines and really naff CDs you once thought were cool (erm..Gina G!).

Anyway, through this expedition through the vast amounts of things I have collected over the years (matchboxes, beermats, freebies, souvenirs, postcards -I still collect those) I found I have so many ads from years ago that I have cut out and collected with the intention of putting in a scrap book, as well as various images and promotional material for my inspiration. I already have 4 or 5 scrapbooks full, so it looks like more has to be bought!

Who knew I was such a collector-of-all-things-arty junkie! Now there's the task of deciding what to do with the things I can't just stick in a scrapbook...

Have a gander..

I thought I'd share with you some more of my better pictures I have taken

Angelic


A couple of seaside pictures from my visit to Bournemouth to attend a football match.

Not lonely at all


Perfect beach


Goosing around at Salford Quays

Ooooh!

Here's an update on the job hunting front...

I applied for a job in a creative agency in the Lake District and I'm quite excited as I am meeting someone called Niki from there for a chat next week! She said she was keen to meet up with me, so am feeling positive about this. I won't say anymore as I don't want to jinx it, opportunities like this don't come along very often, but I will keep you up to date.

A bit of browsing

After a bit of browsing I came across these..




This one is quite fitting considering my quest for a job

And the search goes on...

Well then. At the moment I am applying for everything job-wise I can. Uni is done and dusted, apart from graduation in a couple of weeks, and I achieved a 2:2. I was slightly disappointed at first to be honest, but you know what..in the world of advertising it isn't the qualifications that matter, it's the quality and enthusiasm to the work. So there you go, I'm a happy lassie and am knuckling down to actually start something of a career.

Here I go, wish me luck!

And....relax!

After all things course work-related started to fall into place..there was the ultimate task of getting everything printed out, mounted and made! Knowing my luck with all things technology, I dreaded printing out because I could imagine there being hiccup after hiccup. Thanks to my super Dad, everything was printed and sorted painlessly. In fact all my family have helped out with either support or doing small favours for me so I have a lot to thank them for.

My Super Dad



I must say though, even though the relief everything was sorted out on time, I still haven't caught up on all the sleep lost in those long days and nights of hard work!

The End is Nigh!

Well, here I am again after many weeks of madness and hard work. My course has ended, all work is handed in and the degree show has just started tonight. It was a brilliant night and everything looked great..there was also lots of free food and booze, which is a plus! It was nice to see people taking an interest in my work and this has boosted my confidence for the future.



Here's me painting boards in preparation for the degree show.



Here's the state of my jeans after the painting..how do I end up getting so messy?!



The finished result!

Here it goes again...

What with my stressing over getting my final uni work sorted and how much it is all going to cost me...I've been feeling absolutely shattered what with the late nights and restless snoozes.

Basically been a bit 'meh'. This vid has cheered me up loads though, always makes me grin like a loon when I see it and the 'Berocca' ad (whatever that is) was just on TV and reminded of it.

I love the choreography and the music's ace (just my kinda thing).

Enjoy..

Latest trend..copying or lack of inspiration?

Lately there have been many ads where music has been made either with the product, or sounds have been made to sound like the product, such as The Ford Focus 'Beautifully Arranged' and Honda's 'Choir' ads.

Just released is the new Budweiser ad which follows this trend. Are some advertisements getting too similar nowadays, or is there a lack of inspiration? Not that I'm complaining though, I think they are cool, though could get boring if all ads had singing dogs, Polo, or 'musical' products.

Here's the latest Bud ad.

picture this

Here's a few pictures I quite like from my collection, I'll be adding more to this blog from time to time.

Sunshine, lollipops and rainbows..

Well, seeing as Summer is kind of here, I've been getting excited about the summer holidays in the various gaps of sunshine. I found this Coca-cola ad, which also links with the English Seaside brief I've been working on lately.

Long time no see..

Not posted on here for a few weeks, been a busy bee. Firstly, I was finishing off D&AD competition work, which I will post on here in the near future, then I was on a work placement at Bubble Media in Manchester. It was a great experience and I learned a lot and worked with some great people. Plus I love Manchester! It was also a good opportunity to do some more uni work and with a little bit of guidance from the Bubble people.

Lately, I have been finishing off the briefs we got over Easter and looking at the Clear Channel competition briefs, which I've still not decided which I want to do. Best get a move on though because only 4 weeks for that. Though also, less than 7 weeks left of uni! Already fussing over my work and wishing there were more hours in the day but ah well thats how life goes!

Here is an ad that was on TV before from Mars which makes me giggle, cool music too! Speaking of cool music, after the genius of Phil Collins and the drumming gorilla, its a shame Cadbury's had to ruin Don't Stop Me Now by Queen with them racing airport trucks. Bit of a crappy follow up.

Human dominoes

Maybe the idea was influenced by the Guinness dominoes but who knows, still made me laugh. Or 'lol' as the youngsters call it nowadays.

Millers Beer: